3RD BASHUNDHARA BANGLADESH OPEN

Superb Siddik back in title mix

Bangladesh golfer Siddikur Rahman shares a light moment with his wife during the second round of the 3rd Bashundhara Bangladesh Open at the Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka on Wednesday. — Sourav Loskar

Siddikur Rahman returned to title mix after a brilliant show in the second round as the premier Bangladeshi golfer jumped into joint fifth place of the 3rd Bashundhara Bangladesh Open at the Kurmitola Golf Club on Thursday.Siddik, the two-time Asian tour winner, who performed poorly in the opening round by finishing joint 29th, hit five-under-par-66 to share the fifth spot of the leaderboard with Dodge Kemmer of the United States.The 32-year old golfer, who began the second round from the 10th hole, fired six birdies against a single bogey to finish the second round with a total five-under-par 137 that also boosted his chances of winning his maiden Asian Tour title on home soil.Siddik, however, still six-par behind of leader Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand, who spent another flawless day hitting four-under-par-67 to maintain the top spot with overall 11-under-par-131.Young Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma remained on second position with 10-under-par 132 while two Thai golfers Rattanon Wannasrichan and Panuphol Pittayarat were sharing the third position with eight-under-par 134.‘I don’t know what will happen next but I enjoyed today’s [Thursday’s] game very much,’ Siddik told reporters after making a great comeback.‘I also enjoyed my game in the previous day but a single fault punished me a lot.‘If I can continue today’s performance in the next two rounds then anything can happen.‘I said that my target was to play at least five-under-par in every round but I failed to do it in the first round.‘This time I just wanted to keep my rhythm.‘I brought some technical changes to my play which worked perfectly and now I just want to see what happens next.’Though Siddik stole the show with his brilliant effort, nine other local golfers showed some improved performance to avoid the cut.Dulal Hossain finished the second round on joint 22nd position while Sajib Ali and Jamal Hossain Mollah were in 31st position with three other golfers.Dulal, who missed the cut in the previous edition, played one-under-par 70 in the second round to share the 22nd spot with eight other golfers.Dulal expressed his dissatisfaction with his first nine-hole performance.‘I played really poor in the first part where I conceded two bogeys,’ said Dulal.‘But later I recovered well which I never thought would be possible.‘Now I want to perform better and finish on a decent note.’Mohammad Zia, Badal Hossain, Mohammad Nazim, Shomrat Shikder, Akbar Hossain and Robin Miah are the six other Bangladeshis to avoid the cut.Shakhwat Hossain Sohel, the best local performer in the past two editions, missed the cut along with 28 other local golfers.Sohel, who began the day with the overnight score of five-over-par 77, improved his game with one-under-par 70, but they were not enough. Sohel fired five birdies and an eagle but conceded two bogeys and as many double bogeys in his rollercoaster ride.‘I don’t want to give any excuses because I really played poorly,’ Sohel admitted.